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Energy Bank of Settlements shows numbers that indicate the Commodity Future Trading Commission is looking at setting position limits on the number of trades an energy trader can hold in a month. The Federal Trade Commission is more concerned about coming out with a rule to make sure people aren’t manipulating the physical energy markets.There is no major conflict between House principles and the Energy Department. Both are still undecided on what to do to make sure speculation doesn’t curve markets. Meanwhile, the Senate is waiting for House to act first on the energy regulations issue.

What are realistic returns when commodity trading? As a professional a 15% CAR over many years is possible with proper risk and money management rules. Learn more at www.myinvestorsplace.com

Online commodity trading and futures trading are by-words today. But this was not the scene always. The original marketers belonged to the 1800s. They were just farmers who wanted to sell what they had grown on their agricultural lands. Crops would be harvested, and produce brought to the market for sale.

Not having the educational services available in modern times, they were not able to judge whether the goods that they had brought were sufficient or less in quantity. If the quantity was not sufficient for the buyers, the farmers lost an opportunity to make more money. If there was excess quantity, produce like crop products, meats and dairy products would have to be carted back home. In time, they would rot and spoil. Either way, whether there was a surplus or a deficiency, the farmer suffered losses.

Sometimes, a certain produce would be available off season, but not in as large a quantity as it would be if available during the regular season. Naturally, the products made from this were sold at high prices.

Ultimately, many heads got together to come up with the idea of a common or central marketplace. Farmers would bring their harvests here on certain days and sell them. The buyer could take them as immediate delivery (today, it is called spot cash) or order them as a future delivery (today, known as futures market).

The result of this endeavor was setting of standard prices for different commodities (in season and off season), plus giving an indication to farmers about demand and supply. Thus, spoilage of produce was brought to a halt and farmers no longer incurred huge losses. This can be seen as the stepping stone to the online commodity trading and futures trade that exists today!

Foregoing all that happened between now and then, looking at online commodity trading now as it exists, what are the considerations to be kept in mind if someone wants to go in for it?

(1) The first and foremost point regarding online commodity trading is having an intelligent grasp of how markets function (physical or online) and how contracts are drawn up for futures trade.

(2) Whether involved in online commodity trading or futures trading, there has to be a manufacturer of goods and a consumer of the same goods. One is the seller and the other is the buyer in the contract.

(3) Trade today has gone from agricultural produce and food products to much more, including financial instruments. So the trader has plenty of business options.

(4) Online commodity trading differs from futures trading in that goods may have to be handed over physically. A receipt is issued to the customer, enabling him/her to go to the warehouse and pick up the products.

(5) Another type of contract that has come into being is the futures contract. This has evolved from a forward contract, which is nothing but a buyer signing an agreement to pay for and purchase goods at a specified date some time in the future (generally, the time limit is three months from the date set on the contract). The goods will be delivered on that future date.

(6) According to the agreement, the buyer is getting a commodity not yet available. The price is of course, decided beforehand. Sometimes, the commodities are priced according to future values; stock market indices act as decision-makers for the value set on a particular commodity.

(7) Another aspect of futures trading is that neither the seller is the actual supplier of commodities, nor the buyer the actual user of the goods purchased. Only if the person is personally involved with the actual commodity purchased, will he/she provide and use it.

(8) Futures contracts are useful for both sellers and buyers because risks are minimized, plus the parties get the opportunity to indulge in a little bit of speculation. There is no exchange of physical goods.

(9) Different strategies are available for spot traders as well as future traders, to make use of rising and falling prices to their best advantage. These strategies can be classified as–spread, going short and going long.

(10) For the same commodity, the prices specified in two different contracts may not be the same. The businessman tries to use the price difference to his advantage. This is called a spread.

(11) Going short indicates that the trader is wondering if he/she can gain a profit from falling prices. The contract is therefore sold at a high price now, to be re-purchased at a lower rate in the future.

(12) The last strategy for online commodity trading or futures trading is going long. Here, the investor and the speculator sign an agreement where the buyer is ready to purchase the product at a pre-set price. He/she is anticipating that the price may rise in future, yielding further profits.

How It All Began

Commodity futures trading, as we know it today, came about for the first time in Japan in the 17th century, where rice was traded in future contracts. It was a period when farmers and buyers came together and decided to commit to each other future prices negotiated on suitable terms in exchange of grain for money. For example, a dealer would agree to buy a ton of rice at the end of the next month for a certain price from a farmer. This would be ideal for both parties, as the farmer would know how much he would get for his rice in advance, and the buyer could plan to raise the money he needed for the purchase. Contracts such as these became more and more popular and common, and were even used as collateral for taking loans. If the buyer could not take delivery of the rice, he could sell the contract to someone else. On the other hand, if the farmer could not deliver the goods, then he could hand over the contract to another farmer. Thus began commodity futures trading, as we know it today.

What Are Commodity Futures?

Today, most of the futures commodity trading exchanges are set up in a similar way. Members of the exchange do the actual trading on the floor. Stock stands for equity in a public company, and can be held as long as you want, whereas commodity futures trading contracts have a specified life. In the past, people used commodity futures trading methods generally to hedge risks and fluctuation in prices, or to take advantage of them, and not for actually buying into the commodity. The idea is that a contract requires delivery of the commodity within a certain predefined time period unless it becomes null and void. The person buying the commodity futures trading contract agrees to buy the specified commodity at a fixed price on a certain date. The person selling the commodity futures trading contract agrees to sell the commodity at a certain price on a certain date. As time goes on, the contract price fluctuates, and this brings about profit and loss in the trade. It is to be noted, however that, the delivery generally doesn’t take place. The contract is usually liquidated before its expiry. The entire trade is based on the idea that there will be no delivery, but we can speculate on the price of the underlying commodity at a future time to make money. Commodity futures trading is done all over the world now.

Different Types Of Commodities

There are many types of commodities that are traded in the international market. These can be very broadly categorized into the following:

? Precious metals like Gold, Platinum, Silver, etc.,
? Metals such as Aluminum, Copper, Steel, etc.,
? Agricultural products like Rice, Corn, Oils, Cotton, Wheat, etc.,
? Soft commodities such as Cocoa, Coffee, Tea, Sugar, etc.,
? Livestock like porkbellies, cattle, etc.,
? Energy commodities like Crude oil, Gasoline, Gas, etc.